We look at how GDS defines usability and why we think effectiveness is more important than efficiency or satisfaction.
As well as carrying out user research with users, it's also valuable to carry it out with internal stakeholders. This is how the GOV.UK Verify team conducted user research with its internal stakeholders.
We've set up a user research panel for GOV.UK and we're looking to expand it to the rest of government.
We’ve published new guides to the most common user research methods. And we’re trying out a new discussion group to help the community contribute to the guidance and keep it up to date with our evolving practice.
Setting up a knowledge kanban board is a great way to organise and track user research work. Here are some tips on how to create one and how it can help.
We've been looking at how GOV.UK verify might be extended to local authorities. To help with this, we've been offering training, tools and support to get each of the local authority teams we're working with talking to their own users
Being a good user researcher involves thinking about a variety of subjects, like psychology, business, communication and science. Here's a list of books to help you do that.
An important part of my job is supporting user researchers across government. This year GDS will be introducing: new guidance and resources, a new job family and an improved assurance process.
We wanted to understand what international users thought about GOV.UK. This is how we carried out user research with this group.
Recently, we blogged about our research on how users feel about webchat, and the way we used roleplay to test human interactions in a webchat. Our third piece of research took us out of the lab.
![A screenshot of a webchat process for advisers and potential adviser responses. The text reads: Adviser process: Greet user / ask what their problem is Ask for car reg Ask for date they want to pay for Ask for their credit card number Ask for their expiry date Ask for their security code Try to process the transaction Process this - it works! Give them a transaction reference Close the chat Wait 10-20 seconds before responding each time Make sure you close the chat at the end! Potential adviser responses: [Hi you’re chatting with xxxxx. What can I do for you today?] (prefilled) OK. I can help. What’s your car registration? What date do you want to pay for? That will cost £2.50. Can I take a credit card number? And the card’s expiry date? And the security code - the last 3 digits on the back of the card? Thanks. Let me process this now. The transaction has been processed. Your reference number is 8QU45337.](https://userresearch.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/102/2016/12/webchat-roleplay-photo--620x562.png)
In our recent webchat alpha we looked at whether there are common webchat needs across government. We also investigated what opportunities there might be to meet those needs in a more consistent way. This involved lots of user research including …
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